Matthew 20:15

Matthew 20:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
• New International Version (NIV)Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
• English Standard Version (ESV)Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’

Context of Matthew 20:15

13But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? 14Take that which is thine, and go thy way: I will give to this last, even as to thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is thy eye evil, because I am good? 16So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but few chosen. 17And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples aside in the way, and said to them,

Matthew 20:15 word by word

ἢ οὐκ ἔξεστίν μοι ὃ θέλω ποιῆσαι ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς; ἢ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρός ἐστιν ὅτι ἐγὼ ἀγαθός εἰμι;Read the interlinear

• ·ἤē · orG2228
• notοὐou · noG3756
• lawfulἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832
• meμοίmoi · to meG3427
• doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• whatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• willθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• withἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• ownἐμόςemos · mineG1699
• ·εἰei · ifG1487
• Isἐστίesti · he isG2076
• thyσοῦsou · youG4675
• eyeὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• evilπονηρόςponēros · evil/badG4190
• becauseὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• amεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• goodἀγαθόςagathos · goodG18

Cross-references for Matthew 20:15

• Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.
• Exodus 33:19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
• Deuteronomy 7:6For thou art an holy people to the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people to himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
• 1 Chronicles 28:4However the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel:
• Jeremiah 27:5I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed right to me.
• John 17:2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
• Romans 9:15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
• Romans 11:5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
• 1 Corinthians 4:7For who maketh thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ?
• Ephesians 1:11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
• Ephesians 2:1And youhath he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
• James 1:18Of his own will he hath begotten us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
• Matthew 6:23But if thy eye is bad, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• Deuteronomy 15:9Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thy eye shall be evil against thy poor brother, and thou shalt give him nothing; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee.
• Deuteronomy 28:54So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he shall leave:
• Proverbs 23:6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his delicacies:

Commentaries on Matthew 20:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Is it not lawful for me - As eternal life is the free gift of God, he has a right to give it in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and on whatever conditions he pleases. Is thine eye evil - An evil eye among the Jews meant a malicious, covetous, or envious person. Most commentators have different methods of interpreting this parable. Something was undoubtedly designed by its principal parts, besides the scope and design mentioned at the conclusion…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Is thine we evil because I am good? - The Hebrews used the word evil, when applied to the eye, to denote one envious and malicious, Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 23:6. The eye is called evil in such cases, because envy and malice show themselves directly in the eye. No passions are so fully expressed by the eye as these. “Does envy show itself in the eye? is thine eye so soon turned to express envy and malice because I have chosen to do good?”Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-16This parable is like the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11–32). In both, God shows grace to two groups, but one complains about unfair treatment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?--that is, "You appeal to justice, and by that your mouth is shut; for the sum you agreed for is paid you. Your case being disposed of, with the terms I make with other laborers you have nothing to do; and to grudge the benevolence shown to others, when by your own admission you have been honorably dealt with, is both unworthy envy of your neighbor, and…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 20:15

• Contracts
• Employee
• Employer
• Gospel
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Labor
• Reward
• Servant
• Vineyard
• Wages
• Wicked (People)
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Agree
• Choose
• Condemn
• Drink
• Evil eye
• Eye
• Idle
• Prepare
• Ransom
• Wrong

Commentaries on Matthew 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings